Can you measure heigth of your pre-cbs rosewood on your jazzy neck? Venneer pre-cbs board 1962, 1963 and 1964 necks

[Guitarman555]

Hey, can you measure the heigth of your pre-cbs jazzy and tell the size? Does anybody know, how much rosewood Leo put on the necks after switching from slapboard to vineer? I mean if veneer went continuously slimmer from 1962 necks to 1964 necks? All it was still the same in those years? Thanks!

[Guitarman555]

Anybody helps? Thanks!

[fuzzjunkie]

I don’t have a caliper measurement, but the Jaguar neck had a transition period in the summer of 1962. The Jaguar started the year with a slab with its introduction in February or so, then in May or June the board was changed to a thick veneer. I have a July ‘62 neck that is a thicker veneer. In August or September, (pretty sure it’s August) the boards were planed to a thinner veneer.

That is the same thickness as the 1963. I have not heard of the veneer thickness changing after that, so 1964 should be the same, but with Fender, things like that just seem to happen, so maybe it did get thinner still.

I have also never heard of the other models having a transition period like the Jaguar did. They all switched from slab directly to thin veneer.

If I took a guess it’s something like 5mm to 4mm to 3mm.

[Guitarman555]

I don’t have a caliper measurement, but the Jaguar neck had a transition period in the summer of 1962. The Jaguar started the year with a slab with its introduction in February or so, then in May or June the board was changed to a thick veneer. I have a July ‘62 neck that is a thicker veneer. In August or September, (pretty sure it’s August) the boards were planed to a thinner veneer.

That is the same thickness as the 1963. I have not heard of the veneer thickness changing after that, so 1964 should be the same, but with Fender, things like that just seem to happen, so maybe it did get thinner still.

I have also never heard of the other models having a transition period like the Jaguar did. They all switched from slab directly to thin veneer.

If I took a guess it’s something like 5mm to 4mm to 3mm.

Hey, thanks!

[i love sharin foo]

My May62 Jazzmaster looks to be about 3/32”. That is off of the edge of the fingerboard though, so it might be a bit thicker. Possibly 1/8”.

[fuzzjunkie]

I got my guitars out last night.

The Telecaster is a June 1961 slab board-l - 5/32” or 4-4.5mm.
The Jaguar is a July 1962 thick veneer board - 4/32” or 3mm.
The Jazzmaster is an October 1963 veneer board - 3/32” or 2.5mm.

As close as I could measure without calipers. I measured from the truss end, so the truss rod nut made it difficult on the slab board measures.

[Guitarman555]

My jazzmaster neck Oct 63 - 2mm.
I saw also jazzmaster Jan 64 neck, only around 1,5 mm.
Both measured at the edge, so it is at the thinnest part

[fuzzjunkie]

Edge measurements are difficult because the Edge gets rolled a little with use. Also if the neck was ever refret then the surface is often sanded to remove finger gouges, etc.

On my Telecaster the end was worn a little from vibrating strings. Someone liked a really low action. That and the truss rod made it difficult to get an accurate measurement. I looked at 3 different spots and also took a measurement on the edge above the nut.

[øøøøøøø]

My October '62 has had at least one refret. But right now it's about 0.087" or 2.2mm

[Guitarman555]

Do you think that the thickness of the venner affects the tone of the guitar?

[Guitarman555]

From the measurments you have guys here (If I didn´t look at the possible changes after refrettning), it seems that really Leo maybe went slowly down with the thickeness of the fretboard. Because my jazzy (autumn of 63 neck) has only 2, maybe 2,3mm max, which is still lower than yours all. And it was never refretted.(so it is original thickness)

[fuzzjunkie]

Do you think that the thickness of the venner affects the tone of the guitar?

Some people claim they can hear a difference between slab and veneer, but I doubt any would be successful in a blind test. The difference in a veneer that is 2.5mm and one that is 2mm? Not at all.